Old battery = no hot start?

[FormulaReed]

Took my car out for a drive today. Starts right up cold. Car runs great. Drive to a cars and coffee event. Car starts right up after sitting for like 2 hours. We go for a nice drive and I stop to get a sandwich. Get back in the car and I get no love from the starter.....

I try it a few times and I get the same thing. Look at the voltage gauge and it’s reading in the bottom 25% of the gauge. I call AAA and wait. About an hour goes by and I’m shooting the **** with a guy, he’s asking me about the car so I tell him what’s going on. He suggested that I try it again and it fires right up. I’m the drive home I notice that the voltage gauge is reading in the top 75%.

I drive home and pull out a volt tester. I’m seeing 12.6v when it’s sitting and about 8v when it’s cranking. It turns over well and started up again.

Does this sound like the battery is weak enough to cause the no start? I have no idea how old the battery is. I read that these cars are sensitive to batteries, but this seems a bit much. My car is a 91’.

Cheers,

Reed

[G8nightman]

It could have been vats acting up


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[secondchance]

Sounds like solenoid contacts need replacing.

[Ccmano]

An number of possibilities here. What’s interesting is your statement that the voltage was very low after driving but recovered after sitting. I’d start by checking the battery terminals for looseness, take them off and clean them, then retighten. To check the battery health in general do a battery capacity (load) test, any Autozone can do it for free. The 12.6 volts you got afterwards is correct for a static battery doing nothing, that doesn’t mean it can handle a load tho.

If the battery checks out the alternator is the next suspect. Again, given your description you could have an intermittent alternator or voltage regulator. I recently did an alternator for a friend that worked perfectly at startup but quit after about 5 min. To check simply start the car and let it idle and watch the voltage gauge (or better an external voltage gauge). After start up the voltage should go up to about ~13.7 volts, let it run for a while and watch the voltage. If it suddenly drops below 12.6 the alternator has given up.

Of course it may just be the common starter solenoid issue, clutch switch Issue about much has been written. Do a search and you’ll find detailed instructions.
H
:cheers:

[FormulaReed]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I removed the battery today and got a bit of a surprise. It looked like it was failing from the inside, the case on the side that was inside the car was deformed, like it had been sitting next to a fire. There was also some evidence of acid leakage. I cleaned up the acid and replaced the battery.

It fired right up, but I did not have the chance to really recreate the no start.

[Flyman 27]

That's the exact symptoms mine had, it was the starter solenoid. I replaced the starter and never had another issue. Other that the wife not trusting the car to go anywhere...

[lfalzarano]

My recollection is the problem manifests itself in only very hot conditions. Anyone have a failure in cold conditions, that excludes the slow crank from an old battery?


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[digg101]

I had the same problem with my 95. Before I actually took the plenum off to check the starter out i had the 5 year old battery load tested. Installed new battery and haven't looked back. Even though I could use the experience of a plenum pull, I'm glad I didnt have to.

[onetinsoldier]

I have had the same problem , I was told it was the crank sensor , I replaced it twice and still have the same problem ! So I'm still looking for an answer !

[FormulaReed]

It’s been pretty warm here in Seattle so I did my best to recreate the no start that I had last weekend.... and I had no luck. She fired right up cold and I drove around in the 90 degree heat. Some stop and go before I was able to open her up a bit. Got home, shut her off and she fired right back up. Let it sit for 15 minutes or so, and it fired right back up again.

Now I’ve got to take the wife for a drive. If it’s going to die, that’s when it will happen....

[Paul Workman]

It’s been pretty warm here in Seattle so I did my best to recreate the no start that I had last weekend.... and I had no luck. She fired right up cold and I drove around in the 90 degree heat. Some stop and go before I was able to open her up a bit. Got home, shut her off and she fired right back up. Let it sit for 15 minutes or so, and it fired right back up again.

Now I’ve got to take the wife for a drive. If it’s going to die, that’s when it will happen....

Perhaps the BEST place to start, is a complete evaluation of the starter circuit, and bypassing certain (VATS) and CLUTCH SAFETY Switches. Marc's article provides most of the information you might need to regain confidence in the starter circuit (as far as it goes, that is!!:))

[32valvesftw]

A very long time ago I was a battery and electrical tech for Sears auto center, hey we all start somewhere! Anyway, in many cases those swollen batteries were a result of overcharging, you may want to check your charging voltage and alternator. The new battery won't mind some amount of overcharge initially so you may not see the problem for a while after replacing the battery. Could also have been a plugged vent on the old battery, but that is rare.